Child labor and sexual assault among girls in Maiduguri, Nigeria.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the relationship between child labor and sexual assault among girls in Maiduguri, Nigeria.


METHODS
Face-to-face interview using a validated questionnaire of a randomly selected sample of employed girls.


RESULTS
Out of 350 girls, 316 were successfully interviewed for a response rate of 90.3%. Mean age of the girls was 14.9+/-2.3 years and mean workday was 8.5+/-3.8 hours/day. In 33.4% of cases the girls had no formal education, and 78.5% were not currently going to school. The sexual assault rate was 77.7%, and in 38.6% of cases the assailant was a customer. Sexual assault was more likely in girls who were younger than 12 years (OR 3.54; 95% CI, 1.38-9.14), had no formal education (OR 4.80; 95% CI, 1.63-14.16), worked for more than 8 hours/day (OR 4.43; 95% CI, 1.60-12.30), or had 2 or more jobs (OR 16.09; 95% CI, 1.20-61.70).


CONCLUSIONS
To reduce the risk of sexual assault, if girls are employed they should be older, work for limited hours, and not have more than one job at a time.
Audu
Bala
B
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Nigeria.
Geidam
Ado
A
Jarma
Hajara
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors